By contrast, some Republicans immediately blasted the executive order: Sens. John McCain of Arizona, John Thune of South Dakota and Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, veterans of the 2012 fight, criticized the president for signing the document ahead of his annual address. House Republicans, including Texas Reps. Mike McCaul and Mac Thornberry, offered similar criticisms after Obama’s speech. Those members still pledged to return to the legislative drafting table this year.

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Even so, substantial policy differences between both parties and chambers remain.

While Rogers and Ruppersberger preached compromise at an event Wednesday, they also reintroduced their Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act — the very proposal that drew backlash from the White House, top Senate Democrats and privacy advocates in 2012. It still passed the House last year, and its backers plan to continue pushing the measure — beginning with a hearing before their House Intelligence Committee on Thursday.

For now, Rogers said CISPA supporters are working closely with their Senate colleagues. While he noted the upper chamber isn’t “endorsing our bill by any means,” Rogers stressed there’s a general understanding Congress must “work together to come to a package we can agree on,” an outcome that might be easier now that the president has addressed some of the divisive issues through an executive order.

Ruppersberger agreed. “They don’t agree with everything we do, and vice versa,” he said of the White House’s position. “But we do agree we’re going to work together.” The lawmaker later added he felt “very strongly” that CISPA in its current form includes strong privacy protections, one of the faults levied by administration officials and consumer groups.

Meanwhile, others are preparing to enter the debate substantively for the first time. McCaul, the new leader of the House’s homeland security panel, this week pledged to unveil new legislation soon that’s focused on critical infrastructure — a move that marks a new direction for the committee, which didn’t play a significant role in cybersecurity last year.

The Senate’s own Homeland Security Committee, meanwhile, has considerable work of its own to do following the departure of its two former leaders.

Carper, for one, supported the bill from the panel’s now-retired former chairman, Sen. Joe Lieberman. Carper told POLITICO this week he’s eyeing a hearing on the executive order before the end of March, ideally one with other committees that have jurisdiction in the debate. Still, he’ll sit on the panel this year opposite Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) — a critic of the Senate’s bill last year. He snagged the gig after Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), a co-sponsor with Lieberman, gave up her top party spot on the committee because of GOP term limits.

Collins, for her part, reaffirmed to POLITICO this week her skepticism about an executive order. “I certainly share the president’s frustration at Congress’s failure to act on a bill … but I disagree with his decision to issue an executive order,” she said. “It implies the problem is solved, and it isn’t close to solved, and an executive order cannot provide for immunity for businesses that comply with the standards.”

Asked how lawmakers might proceed after the failure last year, Collins told POLITICO that her allies would “keep talking with people to see what is possible to get passed,” though she is “hopeful that we will introduce a bill and continue to work to try to get a compromise.”